Police in Fairfax County, Virginia, said the county police department’s Fugitive Track and Apprehension Squad arrested a man in connection with the deadly shooting of a Leesburg man in Centreville town house last month.
Richard Kenneth Pearson IV, 31, of Falls Church, was arrested on March 4 and charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, according to a police news release. He is being held at the Fairfax Adult Detention Center without bond.
The victim, Amaru Amin Shabazz, 37, of Leesburg, had been visiting another person in the 14800 block of Bodley Square the evening of Feb. 21 when an altercation occurred, the release said.
Detectives say the motive for the shooting is unclear, but have determined that Pearson shot Shabazz multiple times, then left the scene before police had arrived, the release said. Shabazz was declared dead on the scene.
Detectives said multiple guns were found inside the residence and that “numerous rounds” had been fired inside the home.
The warrant for Pearson’s arrest came after numerous interviews and a review of evidence collected at the scene, the release said.
The Fairfax County Police Department asks that anyone with information about the case contact the department at 703-246-7800, option 2. Tips can be submitted anonymously through Crime Solvers by phone: 1-866-411-TIPS (866-411-8477).
Shabazz is the fourth homicide of the year, compared with two in 2021.